Their Minds Think Alike
by Cassidy Herrera
Summary: In Lion King 1 1/2, Timon searched for a new home away from the other meerkats who only looked down on him. He thought it was the Elephant Graveyard. He was wrong the moment Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed discovered him and Pumbaa one morning.


Shenzi woke up with a low growl, stretching her limbs before scratching the nape of her neck with one foot. As she rapidly shook her head, she tried to make sense of what to do on a lazy morning like today. However, it was always difficult to determine what time of day it was in the Elephant Graveyard. Any ray of sunlight never dared to venture its vicinity, a particular facet akin to the rest of the living creatures apart from the hyenas themselves.

Given the very fact that the Elephant Graveyard received no visitors most of the time, life in here was quite uneventful. The atmosphere had enough negative elements that could forbid other creatures from entering—everything about this place was bitter, cold, and dark. No one would want to be in such an area, but oddly enough for her: the darker the place, the better. The catch was, food has always been scarce. Sometimes, she and her fellow hyenas would have to invade the Pride Lands to scavenge and get their stomach's daily dues.

They have always been dangerous, but it was either starve or die on their part.

Speaking of such, they have to get some breakfast for themselves. Shenzi's drowsy eyes glanced around—and they stayed that way until she realized Banzai and Ed were not around. It was strange, then. They couldn't have wandered off by themselves without an emergency to prove their absence valid and reasonable. It always angered her whenever they went off without her, most especially when she was hungry. Three heads are better than one. They have to be around whenever she hunts for food.

She impatiently hissed, "Hey! Where're you guys?"

As she slowly walked outside, she continued to call out, "Banzai! Ed! You better be in here somewhere! I'm hungry!"

Just then, Ed ran towards her from a distance at an incredible speed, whimpering as he attempted to skid to a successful stop. Banzai, who was just right behind him, had the same dilemma in mind.

He cried out, "Shenzi! Move it!"

Unfortunately, her head has always been glancing up—thus, the moment she focused back ahead, Ed and Banzai's bodies slammed against hers at an impact that threw her backwards approximately seven meters at most. With dust gathering around her, Shenzi had to buy some time in order to snap out of the shock caused by their collision.

"Hey!" she growled, gradually regaining her ground. "What was that for?!"

"I told you to move it!"

As hunger got the better of her, she resisted the urge to argue and rubbed her scowling face with one paw. "How about we _move_ to get some food?"

That was when Ed made some incoherent noises. His worried eyes and frantic gestures seemed to give out half of the answers she needed.

"What was that? There's food?" she probed.

"We have been chasing after those, but then you had to block the way!" Banzai added.

Food? In the Elephant Graveyard? Surely, they couldn't be lions unless they're mere cubs at the moment. If not, then what? Have the dead kings of long past shown them mercy for no apparent reason?

They'd better not take that for granted.

"Then let's look for those!"

Shenzi almost scurried away completely but stopped midway. "What do they look like, anyway?"

"A meerkat and a warthog, I guess."

Shenzi seemed slightly disappointed. "That's it?"

"I get tired of zebras," Banzai admitted, rubbing his head with a bored frown.

Ed nodded rapidly in agreement.

She waved her paw impatiently. "Then fine. It's better than nothing. At least the warthog will be a handful for a meal. Let's go."

Banzai and Ed followed after her as she jumped off to another direction in search for their targets.

Meanwhile, in one of the most secluded areas of the Elephant Graveyard, Timon and Pumbaa remained anxiously hidden behind a massive pile of skulls and bones.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Pumbaa whined.

"So much for home sweet home. We'd better find a new one once we get out of this place," Timon muttered out loud as he closed his eyes.

"And that is _if_ you get out of this place," a voice out of nowhere stated matter-of-factly.

Timon and Pumbaa simultaneously let out a "huh" in question before the pile of bones were slapped away to reveal the hungry leader of the hyenas. Instinctively, they both screamed and backed against the rough wall in vain. "Hy—hy-!" Timon breathed in panic.

"Tch. You gotta stop that habit. Behave now, will you?"

Shenzi licked her lips and inched closer to the pair.

"Pumbaa, let's get out of here!"

Pumbaa let out a determined yet fearful cry as he scampered away with Timon close behind. Unfortunately, Shenzi used both of her paws to pin their tails to the ground, having to exert effort on Pumbaa's, although she was still able to maintain that sinister grin on her face.

"Y'know, it was a good thing my friends and I split up. That way, you guys are all mine!" she declared triumphantly.

Pumbaa attempted to get his tail off her, but her paw was surprisingly strong. Timon could only shudder and close his eyes. Shenzi's mouth then launched for the meerkat first, but was stopped short by his voice.

"Wait, wait, wait!" he protested.

Pumbaa slowly opened his eyes and glanced at their direction.

"Uh, don't eat us, please! At least, uh, let me explain!"

His futile plea caught her off-guard. He behaved as if something like that will work, but then she found herself retracting a little. Her paws were still grounded on their tails.

"Timon?" Pumbaa said doubtingly, frowning in confusion.

Timon then clasped his hands together, his eyes on the concrete ground as he started, "I… I'm looking for a home!"

Shenzi's face looked dumbfounded, but he continued, "I'm looking for this beautiful, wonderful, spectacular place with no worries—somewhere I can breathe the fresh air—feel the smooth breeze on my skin alongside with my pal."

He tapped Pumbaa lightly, who appeared to be jaw-dropping at the moment.

"That's why you can't eat me yet! I… I'll have to find that place before I die…" he senselessly rambled on, sentimentality ridiculously dripping from his eyes which in no way affected the hyena.

At this, she finally responded, "I'm guessing you'd find a home in my stomach, little pipsqueak!"

She opened her mouth to gobble up Timon, but she heard Banzai's voice echo from a distance way too far-off.

"Shenzi! Found anything?"

The female hyena locked gazes with the meerkat, then with the warthog.

Her supposed breakfasts.

"Hey! Shenzi!"

"No, you idiot! There's nothing in here!" she yelled out at another direction, the emptiness bringing echoes for a short while.

"Aw, c'mon!"

Timon and Pumbaa stared at Shenzi with complete astonishment. At first, they thought she will have them all to herself, but she silently released their tails with a low growl and started to tread away as if nothing ever transpired. Timon slowly stood up, staring after the hyena with questions lingering in his mind.

A smile grew.

For the first time, he said, "Shenzi… we…"

At that moment, she suddenly barked and sprung at them, earning screams from the two and watched as they finally ran away for their lives. Shenzi maintained the ferocity of her façade and allowed the dusts to gather as remnants of their rushed escape, and—after a short while, her expression receded into that of contemplation, slowly turning away to catch up with her friends. It didn't take long before Banzai and Ed found her, confused looks betraying the spine-shuddering concerns they felt for their leader.

"Shenzi, you okay?"

Her eyes widened for a second then narrowed quickly. "Of course I am, you idiot."

Ed didn't appear to be satisfied. Banzai then translated, "But we thought we heard screams."

She sighed. How could their brains resemble that of Mufasa's bird messenger? A while ago, Banzai could have conjectured that she finally found them, but then he had to ask. Ed was no better, of course. Weren't three voices sufficient to confirm everything? The echoes that were released by the meerkat and the warthog were the clues. Echoes!

"Well, whatever. Must be your imagination. Come on, let's go hunt," she said, walking ahead.

"Wait! What about those two?" Banzai hastily inquired.

Shenzi stopped and looked behind her. "We'll eat them some other time. For now, we're getting zebras."

"Zebras? Oh, c'mon! Shenzi!" he whined out loud, running after her with Ed whooping in laughter as he followed the gang.

Their conversation faded off into echoes, slowly reaching the ears of both Timon and Pumbaa, who now walked out of the Elephant Graveyard. What happened back there seemed to leave a mark even on their faces. Silence has reigned on the two for quite a while now—however, Pumbaa looked at his small friend and asked, "Hey, Timon? Why did you think she let us go?"

"Hm?" The meerkat stopped in his tracks. He allowed the question to be absorbed carefully, and as he did so, he smiled the kind of smile in which denoted a new discovery.

"She could have eaten us, you know. But I didn't expect her not to."

Timon grinned. "You wanted her to eat us, Pumbaa?"

The warthog felt foolish and hastily answered, "Huh? No, of course not. It's just that…"

Timon sighed with a sage-like smile. "My dear Pumbaa—I guess that means she understood what I felt."

"What?—Ah, what do you mean? About you not wanting to be eaten?"

At this, he laughed. "No, Pumbaa. About me looking for a home!" He spread his arms on both sides.

"Really?"

He nodded with certainty, his hands perched on his hips. "Yes, really."

Timon gently guided Pumbaa's head to get a glimpse of the Elephant Graveyard. His fingers spread out to gesture to the expanse of the place. "Just look. What do you see, Pumbaa?"

The warthog's eyes slowly glanced at Timon. "Uh, a bunch of bones? It's dark, too."

"That's what I saw back then when I lived with the other meerkats. Dark. And lonely…"

Before he gave himself away to his cheesy angst, Pumbaa intervened, "But what does that got to do with the hyena back there?"

That was when Timon's visage grew serious.

"Remember that I am looking for a home?"

"Yup."

"I just have the feeling that she's looking for the exact same thing."


End file.
